What emergency has befallen you in the past to suggest that carrying a phoneis an immediate requirement?

My experience;

I broke my hip riding a bike. My phone battery was dead. I was probably 200m from a busy park but it took 20 minutes for me to get anyone's attention and it bloody hurt waiting.

My mate;

Was found unconcious on a bridleway near Brighton at 10pm last Friday - he'd probably lain there for 2-3 hours before being found. Clearly he wasn't able to use a phone but some sort of buddy beacon would, perhaps, have helped someone find him sooner.

We've been sort of programmed into taking a phone everywhere "just in case" when in reality you don't really need to

Chuff me, talk about making a snooty 'modern life is rubbish you're all sheep' point out of an incredibly simple question. Yeah, I'm programmed, I'm an unthinking automaton, yeah I'm a brainless fool addicted to technology. I love to run along with my earphones in tweeting and facebooking as I go. Then I post a picture of my drink of water extensively marketed recovery drink that I think is going to turn me into Mo Farrah when I finish.

As above - you can hurt yourself badly when out running, or you can hurt yourself moderately, and if I carry my own phone I can call my wife, which is much easier than limping to a phone box or flagging a stranger down.

Plus I like to log what I've done. I'm not obsessive about it, I've done loads without any logging, but it's handy and with Strava I can measure my performance easily. I don't give a shit if you do or not, and nor should you give a shit if I do.

technology, modern life, pressure etc etc)

FFS, my phone does not make pressure. You make your own pressure. I don't answer work emails, I don't get calls, I don't make them.

The only time I carry a phone when running is if I am on a very long run or in the fells for several hours and by a long run I mean 25 miles plus and I am carrying a bag anyway. 99% of my running I only carry a key.
Carry a phone when cycling as you are not carrying the weigh as such plus you may need assistance and its no trouble to simple slip it into your pocket.

My emphasis, I wasn't having a pop at you princess, I was merely pointing out that phones are ubiquitous and we pick them up and include than in our lives out of habit, I was merely pointing out that in all likelihood you don't need to, as you asked " what do YOU do, I thought I'd answer

I didn't start THAT conversation. I asked how people carry stuff. It's a question about kit.

I didn't ask 'do I need to take a phone?' or 'tell me how to enjoy my running' did I?

Forum post in going a bit of track shocker

Molly in this weather you should be wearing nothing but a thong!

IAMNRAT but I carry a door or car key and shove it in the pocket that most of my shorts have sewn in. Other than a watch which takes care of itself I dont feel the need to carry anything else so cant add much more.

Really? That would explain why I never reached my potential. I was following the "run till yer eyeballs pop" school of thought and banging my gonads in the door post training session advice, not an envelope in sight!

I carry a phone for GPS logging and emergency calls when running, but primarily so I can listen to music while I'm out. Usually just wedge it in a pocket of my shorts.

I'd quite like a better / comfier means of storage but all the belts and armbands I've looked at are either too small for my phone (seems everything's designed for iDevices these days) or way overkill marathon packs that can carry two litres of water and a boy scout.

No, no music for me. I like music inside, when working inside or when driving. When I'm outside I like to be immersed in the outside, I find music makes me feel claustrophobic. I don't even like it on public transport.

Cougar did you check out those spibelts mentioned above? They look great and have a wide range of sizes etc.

I would suggest, molgrips, that if you do use a small, tight fitting waist belt style bag, always wrap your phone in something waterproof. I did a long fell run a few years ago with a music playing thingy and destroyed it with sweat.

Zipvit do a tough little phone style Ziploc bag, but it's the right size for an S4 mini, not sure if it will fit anything larger in.